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Monday, January 23, 2012

Steak tartare

Some years ago a friend of mine went to Paris with his family for two or three weeks .

We met soon after he came back from his journey and he told me enthusiastically how much he and his wife
liked the French cuisine. There was only one huge disappointment, he said. A kind of steak presented in the menu.

'We ordered it and, Good Lord, the garçon brought us a heap of minced meat, some chopped onion, a raw egg yolk and some
spices. We could not believe our eyes', my friend said, it was
like somebody has stolen the ingredients from the chef before he was able to prepare
the dish, even before he could mix them.

So, in short, my friend and his wife sent the dish back to the kitchen angrily, asking the chef to prepare the tartare on the grill. Yes, this is a true story.
I tried not to laugh when I heard it and I would have probably forget about it,
but one of my colleagues came back from France this summer. He spent there some weeks with his friends and when they ordered Steak tartare…, well, you already know the end of the story.

So, the moral – if you don’t like
the taste of raw meat, Steak Tartare should not be amongst your orders. But if you are a devoted meat lover like me and my three beloved ones, this is a good and easy to prepare dish which is best enjoyed with a glas of good red wine.

It is not a good idea to prepare the mixture of the ingredients in advance and to put it in the fridge - everything should be mixed some minutes before serving or even like in the case of my friend - everybody should prepare their mixture in their own plate. Meat and eggs should be very, very fresh and from a trusted source in order to avoid any digestive complications. Classical recipe calls for hot pepper sauce as an ingredients, but we like it with fresh chopped hot peppers.

Ingredients for 2 servings:

400 g raw beef meat, finelly chopped or minced

2 large egg yolks

2 Tbsp brained capers, drained

2 Tbsp onion, finely chopped

2 Tbsp green peppers, deseeded, finely chopped

2 Tbsp freshly ground pepper

1 tsp salt

Preparation:

Mix all the ingredients. Serve with some slices of toasted bread. Enjoy!